How Does Shakespeare Portray Women in "much Ado about Nothing"?

Summary: Shakespeare portrays women quite accurately in his play "Much to do About Nothing", as all the female characters have widely varied personalities so that main female stereotypes are covered, without making the women come across as being too patronising, animated or humorous. The variety of personalities and social status enables different people to relate to the different characters, and enable a range of relationships to be formed in the play.

This play is mainly based around battles of the sexes, conflict, relationships and deceiving people. Women feature very heavily in each of these and many lines can be interpreted in different ways, to show hidden meaning or to reflect society. The only female characters in the play are Beatrice, Hero, Ursula and Margaret. All of these women have very different characteristics, opinions and personalities, and occasionally their personalities clash a little. Not all of these women's characters fit the typical female stereotype in Shakespearean society (especially Beatrice), and are possibly made to behave in such a way to add humour, irony or contrast.

Beatrice is introduced in the first scene of the play, and is portrayed as being a very witty and clever woman. She frequently plays with words to win arguments or to prove her point. For...